Next Toronto poet laureate named

Novelist and poet Anne Michaels is the city’s next poet laureate.

“I am very honoured to serve the city in this way,” the award-winning writer told the Town Crier.

She said she hopes to use the position to celebrate the city in its diversity and she has a special interest in fostering the talents of students and young people.

Michaels is to serve as Toronto’s fifth poet laureate, starting in November.

She is the author of five acclaimed poetry collections — including the 1991 collection Miner’s Pond, which was nominated for the Governor General’s Award.

She may be best known for, however, for her novels, especially Fugitive Pieces (1996), which won numerous awards, including the Orange Prize for Fiction, and was adapted into a movie.

It was followed by the praised novel The Winter Vault in 2009.

Her first book for children, The Adventures of Miss Petitfour, is to be published by Tundra Books next month.

As poet laureate — a position created in 2001 — Michaels is to receive an honorarium of $10,000 per year over the three-year term. She follows poet and playwright Elliott Clarke in the job.

“I hope to do something good with the position,” she said.